WAMC/School List Help (3.99/521/CA ORM)

[premed717]

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MCAT: 521 (131/127/131/132)
cGPA/sGPA: 3.99
- Graduating this year (1 gap year)

Clinical experience: 950h
- 750h as volunteer MA
- 200h as health fair volunteer

Research: 1500h
- 300h in microbiome lab (2 mid-author pubs)
- 1200h in neuro lab (1 first-author pub, school conferences)
- not included in hours but also have 1 pub from high school (microbiome research) and 1 pub from public health research

Shadowing: 100h
- ophthalmology, primary care, pain med

Non-clinical volunteering: 150h
- working with unhoused

Teaching/leadership/other
- 80h as TA
- 1250h as board member for health service club (related to health fair volunteering and public health publication above)
- 1000h from club sport including leadership + multiple-time medalist at collegiate nationals

School List:
Stanford, UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, USC, UCI, UCD, Kaiser, CUSM, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Duke, Vanderbilt, WashU, Northwestern, NYU, UChicago, UPitt, Icahn, Mayo, Case Western, UVA, Emory, Georgetown, USF, UA Phoenix, Albert Einstein, Oakland, Vermont, SLU, Ohio State, Iowa

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

I need more details about your unhoused community service, and any more details on your clinical experiences help.

I presume that with a 3.99/52x MCAT, you are itching for a confirmation list full of top brand-name schools. Your metrics should warrant such attention, but you'll be among others with very similar high metrics AND much more experience hours than what you have documented. I generally recommend 250 hours minimum of service orientation activities, such as your unhoused work (depending on what it is), so if you can get to 250 hours before submission, your file could stay "on par" with most of the other applicants you are with.

The good news is with those metrics, you should be able to pick OOS/non-CA schools that fit your purpose and mission. I don't know what that is based on your activities because I see a lot of research but less community engagement. I presume your health fair volunteering is connected with student club involvement (health service club), so there's not much where I see you immerse yourself with uncomfortable situations or people; your 150 hours with unhoused individuals is smaller than your involvement with your health service clubs. Do you want to dedicate yourself to helping unhoused or asylee patients? If so, that should help you narrow down this list you posted. Are you fluent in a non-English language? That also can help you be more picky with your list.

Note that UC schools like candidates from their region of the state. With your research and public health experience plus metrics, your flagships should be on the list (UCLA, UCSF, UCSD). Otherwise, what makes you stand out from the cannon fodder for the Ivy+ schools on your list? Why should they pick you for an interview? Nothing in this description compels me other than "I have the metrics and the hours," and they'll have plenty of those candidates to choose.